When Survivor: Philippines first started, it welcomed back three players who were all medically evacuated from a previous season. Tonight’s episode was hauntingly ironic as Dana found herself very sick at Kalabaw camp with the possibility of being evacuated herself. But before that moment, the Matsing tribe faced certain decimation unless something in the game took a twist. And as you probably expected, it did.

Matsing’s Last Stand

With only two members left on the Matsing tribe, Denise and Malcolm joined forces to search for the hidden Immunity Idol. After looking everywhere, Malcolm finally found it on the top of the rice container, which ignited a big celebration between the two of them. They felt like it was the only morsel of safety they had in the current battle of two against 12.

When they all arrived at the Reward challenge, host Jeff Probst delivered the highly anticipated news that Matsing was no more. As Malcolm ripped off his dirty blue buff, he spit on it before dropping it to his feet. After a random draw, Malcolm joined the Tandang team while Denise was placed on Kalabaw. The game had reached a new beginning with two tribes at seven members each.

Malcolm’s Victory

The challenge was simple, yet satisfying. One at a time, the contestants entered a small arena and had to balance a wooden idol on a plate. Their goal was to protect their idol while trying to knock their opponents’ idol to the ground first. After multiple rounds, it was Malcolm who scored the winning point for Tandang. Their prize? Cookies and coffee. Malcolm’s prize? Knowing he could actually contribute to a victory. “I feel like I got my swag back,” Malcolm said with his spirits lifted high after arriving at Tandang for the first time.

Worried that he might be considered the odd man out, Malcolm was welcomed to Tandang with open arms — especially by Lisa. She couldn’t stop oozing positive comments about him. But not everybody was excited to have him around. RC was bummed that they didn’t get Denise because she noticed Malcolm was connecting with Peter and his cronies. Making his move very quickly, Peter pulled Malcolm aside and warned him that Mike and his allies are annoying. He then dished even more dirt by admitting to Malcolm that he holds an Idol. I find it absolutely shocking that Peter spilled his secrets so quickly to the new kid in town. Malcolm hadn’t done a single thing to prove that he’s trustworthy whatsoever. Bad move.

Dana’s Illness

As the nonstop rain and cold weather continued to pound down, Dana found herself feeling extremely sick at Kalabaw. She had the shakes, she was dizzy, nauseous and couldn’t hold any food down. Jonathan felt really bad as he watched Dana struggle. “Day 11 sucks. It’s freezing. And I’m a big, fat guy (so) it doesn’t really affect me that much. But Dana’s sick. She weighs 47 pounds or something. I don’t know. She’s as big as my finger.”

After she spent some time away from the rest of the tribe members trying to get her sickness under control, she returned to the shelter and huddled up under a blanket. Jonathan literally offered up all the care he could and let her rest her head in his lap. A short time later, her nagging pain ignited a visit from Probst and the medical team. When he asked Dana what was going on, all she uttered was, “My stomach.” He took her away from camp as the medical team assessed her. She explained the pain in her stomach as feeling like there was a knife in it. After a complete evaluation, the docs determined they could give her another 12 hours to see if she could get some fluids in her body without forcing her out of the game. that left the decision in her hands. “I can’t stay here,” Dana said with tears in her eyes. “I can’t be out here sick anymore. I wish I wasn’t sick,” she cried. Probst took off his jacket and wrapped it around her body as he gathered the rest of the Kalabaw tribe around to tell them what was happening. “It’s clear that Dana is struggling and so she just can’t go on anymore,” he told the group. After everybody said their goodbyes, Dana was loaded on a boat and taken out of the game with Probst at her side and rubbing her shoulders.

Kalabaw Tastes Defeat

At the Immunity challenge, Katie had Russell Swan syndrome as she struggled making her way over several of the obstacles. Despite making a monstrous comeback in the last portion of the challenge, Kalabaw lost by seconds and faced their first Tribal Council of the season. “If Katie had been three seconds faster and Dawson would have been a little more helpful with the puzzle, I think we would have won,” Jonathan said in confessional. “And now we’re gonna be down two people. That gap at this stage in the game may just be insurmountable.”

Back at camp, Katie apologized for sucking at the challenge. She realized that her terrible performance was a great reason for everybody else to vote her off. Denise, on the other hand, was extremely worried that her new tribemates would vote her out just because she’s an easy target as the newest addition with no loyalties. But that quickly changed as Jeff cut a deal with Denise and offered her a place in his alliance with Jonathan and Carter. The two shook hands and agreed to target Katie or Dawson. Carter wanted to get Katie out, but Jeff thought Dawson made more sense.

At Tribal Council, Dawson was completely blindsided by the group and voted out of the game. She had a deep, blank stare on her face as Probst snuffed her torch. She then gave Probst a hug and kissed him on the cheek before walking out of the game.

Wow. That was a damn good episode.

What did you think of the episode? Were you surprised Dana voluntarily pulled herself out of the game? Are you surprised Kalabaw voted Dawson out? Who do you think is currently in the best position to win the $1 million grand prize? Sound off and leave a comment below!